Murray keen to keep Pearses ticking over
PART OF HISTORY: Pádraig Pearses senior football manager, Niall Murray, has played his part in the club's recent successful era. Picture: Gerard O'Loughlin
Niall Murray describes being manager of the Pádraig Pearses senior footballers as the “dream job”.
A devoted clubman who previously worked under Pat Flanagan to help Pádraig Pearses usher in the present era of success, Murray has guided the club back to familiar terrain.
When Pádraig Pearses were on the lookout for a new senior manager to replace Frank Canning in the off season, Murray admits that he was keen to take over and maintain the winning culture that now permeates through the Woodmount-based side.
“I'm involved in the club heavily. I'm a coaching officer in the club and I'm involved in underage. I was involved a couple of years ago with Pat Flanagan when he was manager, and I was involved in the management team seven or eight years before that as well.
“I'm interested in trying to keep the club very competitive, trying to regularly win championships. That's what this club is about now. What we don't want to do is fall away. We want to be competitive year on year. If we can pick up a championship along the way, that's great,” he stated.
For Murray, there is a tremendous pride that comes with seeing the club support and compete in all codes.
While the men’s flagship team having got across the winning line in 2019 and subsequently in 2021 and 2024, there has been a concerted effort on the LGFA side to try and help the club rekindle past glories.
He is enjoying seeing the club’s intermediate ladies’ footballers, under the management of John Whyte, prepare for their own county final, which is scheduled to be held the day before the senior men take to the field at King and Moffatt Dr Hyde Park.
“We have a fantastic chairperson in Teresa Fitzgibbon, and the officers — Secretary Aidan Fallon, Hubert (Darcy), Aaron (Clogher) — and everybody involved. They work really hard here. It's a nice positive place to be around and involved in. That's why I am over here.
“They (the intermediate ladies’ footballers) are also a very positive group to be around. Ladies’ football is going extremely well in Pearses at the moment. The club won its fourth U-16 title in a row there recently, they were involved in U-14 and are in the minor championship (final) as well. They were very competitive at intermediate level last year. They got to the final, so hopefully they can go one step further this year,” he noted.
When he is asked what is the first memory that springs to mind when asked about past deciders, the answer is quick and decisive. For him, 2019 is, and may always be, the answer to that question.
It was the year that the famine ended — the start of a new era for Pádraig Pearses.
“The 2019 final was a fantastic occasion for the club, it was the first one ever (to win). The 2021 final was a bit different. It was our second title, and we were serious contenders year on year at that stage. We were in the ‘20 final as well. So, we were working towards playing at a really consistent level.
“For me, it's more about trying to play at a high level and the results will look after themselves after that. The first final was very emotional, after that it becomes more about chasing performances than anything else,” he contended.
When asked what it would mean to win a county title while wearing the bainisteoir bib, that doesn’t raise the heartrate. Instead, his thoughts turn to this group of players creating another memorable day for themselves and the club.
“It's more about the player group. I'm here trying to facilitate them. Obviously, it's nice for my family and this kind of thing, but I'm really focused on facilitating the ambition of the player group. That's what this is about. It's not about any of the management team.
“It's about the players. They are the central actors in these games. There's a lot made about managers and management teams and so on. We facilitate. They are the guys who perform. I'm really looking forward to seeing their performance on Sunday,” he stated.
The pride Murray felt in his side’s performance against Boyle during the recent epic semi-final is still present. Even though emotion can cloud judgement in the aftermath of such a frenetic game, his subsequent review of the epic showdown was similar to his thoughts post-game — the performance was overwhelmingly positive.
He feels his side can take confidence from their display and use that to ask stern questions of St. Brigid’s on Sunday.
“I think we played excellently against Boyle. Lots of facets of the play were at a really high level. Obviously, we want to win a bit more primary possession and concede a little less. That will go a long way to helping us be successful but we're under no illusions with the challenge we have ahead of us. St. Brigid’s are a serious outfit, getting to two All-Ireland finals.
“I think it's a good, healthy rivalry (with St. Brigid’s). But we have no intention of going Sunday week to make up the numbers. We're a quality outfit ourselves with lots of very experienced players and some exciting young players. We're really looking forward to it,” he claimed.
